Diane authored and passed the law for district school board elections that now guarantees that our part of the city will always have a representative on the school board.

But more needs to be done

Minnesota is behind other states in assuring all get quality early childhood care and education. The science is clear - brain development is critical from birth to age three and experiences then can make later learning much easier or more difficult. Pre-school programs help kids develop key skills and be ready to learn when they enter school. This is a major priority for the future.

Our k-12 schools need solid, reliable funding that enables them to give great learning opportunities to all kids in all schools. Class sizes, access to modern computers, arts programming and varied after school activities all contribute to school (and life) success.

Special education children deserve to develop their full talents. But we need to stop waiting for the federal government to finally fulfill its funding promises and develop a Minnesota based approach with adequate funding. Diane is exploring the use of a common tool in health funding — risk adjustment — so that our Minneapolis schools and other schools that serve the largest numbers of children with multiple needs and barriers will get the funds they need .

Charter schools have evolved from pilots designed to test new approaches to ongoing options and our policies need to catch up. Some are doing great but too many have failed and closed abruptly with major disruption to the students served. We need to explore how to better avoid that.

Higher education must be quality, affordable, and not result in decades of debt.

The Minnesota State system should again commit to better meeting the needs of the metro area where over half of our young people reside. Many prefer urban and suburban settings and we are losing too many to other states when they can't find what they need or can afford in the Twin Cities. Most young people locate permanently within close distance to where they got their last degree. With the upcoming workforce shortage, we will struggle to have sufficient smart, young workers and higher education has a major role to play in addressing that.